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Tourneys tilt me way more than cash games. I doubled up early but that was it. A guy 2 to me left couldn't fold, so I lost 2 steal attempts - then he took me out by calling my all in (ace-six) with jack-eight suited. It was a nice chunk of his stack, but he felt like J8 was good enough to go with against a guy playing 12/8 who couldn't hit a hand.
In the cash game, you actually like seeing the donkey play bad, even if he beats you sometimes, because you feel like that money's just on loan. In the tourney, you watch the donkey make the bad call, as your head goes under water for the last time...
Edit: can I take that back? Just lost a 40BB pot having to fold a set on the river to a 50/10 donkey, LOL.
Thursday night cash game, my ego and stack are both smarting after Mr. Pietzak has outplayed me twice now in one orbit. In the first hand, he bet his flush draw on the come and zeroed in on the exact correct value bet when it got there. In the second, his checkraise on the perfect scare card got me off a pocket pair I was sure was good just one card ago, then flashed a card as he dragged the pot to show his bluff.
Ego is a dangerous thing in poker. Had I sat for the next hour trying to plot my revenge on Mr. Pietzak, I would have lost focus on the correct strategy - targeting the weaker players at the table, and getting your money from them. In all honesty, at this table, I should probably just avoid butting heads with Mr. Pietzak altogether without the goods to back it up.
There were soft spots to be had. An infrequent player to our game was there last night - he plays waaaaay too many hands and then bets postflop like he's flopped two pair+ every time. He bets and bets and bets again with third pair, or a draw, or nothing. Not a terrible strategy overall, but this player doesn't seem to ever consider his opponent's holdings, and therefore can be trapped into huge postflop mistakes - building big pots with small hands, then somehow convincing himself that everyone else is bluffing like he is.
Early on, he was up to his old tricks and raised some limpers from the big blind. But he was out of turn- the button hadn't even acted yet, so he had to pull his bet back. Knowing a raise was coming, the button folded.
I was in the small blind, and hadn't looked at my cards yet. So now it's my turn to look and... what do you know, two aces. A goofy situation. If I raise into someone I know is going to raise, that will look pretty odd and give off lots of warning bells, so I limp in (I already know we're going to be heads up), and pretend like maybe I wasn't paying attention before and didn't know he had raised out of turn. When he repeats his raise, I call.
It was the most obvious, worst ploy I had ever attempted. I was nearly red from embarrassment. I caught Mr. Pietzak and Wiley across the table flash eyes at each other - they had seen it. They knew.
But my opponent didn't catch on. I checked a 358 garbage board, and I was just praying he had A8 or pocket nines, because I knew he couldn't fold them. He made the bet I knew was coming and I checkraised big (enough slowplaying for one hand), which scared him off. I had won a small pot, which was good enough.
This player later paid off an all-in bet to Wiley on a ten-ten-seven-seven-nine board. We all assumed a chop was coming, but no - he only had a seven for the underfull, and his chip drain continued.
In tuning into the table dynamic, I could feel the shift after the full house hand. A palpable refocusing by all the good players at the table. They were all gunning for this guy's stack.
Tony got his piece by flopping a set of nines and getting paid off by top pair. The villain's hand was jack-six. Mr. Pietzak used his position and postflop edge to raise lots of flops against this player and play big pots against a weak range - actually getting him to lay down a few pairs. I wasn't sure about this strategy - I felt like I needed a hand to get paid off, but it was working for Mr. Pietzak.
My piece came very late - my villain raised from under the gun. His raise was small so I knew his hand wasn't very big. I called in the big blind with ace-queen, and I hit my ace on a fairly dry board (ten/three I believe were the other cards, and two were diamonds).
I lead out with pair of aces and got raised. This raise, in my estimation, was most likely an attempt to re-take the betting lead. I'm behind two pairs and sets - but I can rule out a set of aces and I think even tens would have been a different preflop bet size. I rule out ace-king for the same reason. Ace-ten is worrisome, and pocket threes, that's about all.
Should I reraise? If he's got ace-jack, he probably goes to the wall with it. The most likely hand he has is nothing, though - or something that can't beat the ace on the board - and there's no way he calls that raise. Plus, this player is simply not thinking about what I have - he's going to bet and bet and bet to the river, even though I just called a raise on a dry board. That's the best way to extract the most money from him. I make the call.
The turn is a third diamond. I check. My opponent does not raise draws, so I'm not worried about this diamond - a fourth one on the river will not be friendly though. I continue with my plan and check. My opponent bets $5 into what's now a $25 pot - a standard blocker bet. No flush. I call.
The river bricks out some low card. I check, with the intention of calling a normal bet. My opponent nervously says "$20" but flips out two red chips, which is only $10. Had I wanted to call the bigger bet, I would hold him to his verbal commitment, but I only want to call the smaller bet. I ask him "20 or 10?, pointing to the two chips, giving him the option to change it. He corrects himself, saying "sorry, ten". I make the call once again, and outkick my opponent's ace-seven.
He eventually drains away his entire big stack and walks out empty handed. I end up +$60 on the night, not bad considering I was down about the same amount earlier in the evening.
It was suggested that I apply more concentration during online play. Stop surfing the web between hands, think about the table, your opponents, think about ranges. Keep your brain thinking poker.
I did this tonight - I even played 3 tables at once for a time. My results were mixed - lost just under a buy-in on the night. However, most of that can be traced to two hands.
1) flush over flush. Killer when that happens. I would have lost more, too, except that the board paired on the river, so I just called the river bet instead of raising as I hit my flush. Not sure I could do much there.
2) A wrong guess. Pocket nines with a cold-calling, quarter-stack donkey behind me. Flop ace-eight-four. It comes does to whether he has an ace or not. I don't have too many hands to get my read, but he's playing 40% of hands (8/20), and he is c-betting 100% (3 out of 3). Before I act, I decide my action - I'm going to checkraise him all in when he bets. His range is wide and doesn't have to have an ace. I carry out my plan. He has an ace. Oh well.
I am also proud of several hands I played. I called a pot size river bet with ace high when that bet made no sense based on the action. I raised pocket kings and got a call from a player with 5 blinds left. Five. The board was 7 high and a bit coordinated, but who cares for 5 blinds? The player has already made a huge mistake if he called with a drawing hand with that low of a stack. So now, how do I get those five blinds? If I bet, he folds everything that missed. I can check then call any bet (which will obviously be all in).
I try something completely different. I minbet. 0.25 into the 1.50 pot. Bad players do this when they have a hand they don't like. I'm not sure what they think the bet will accomplish. I often raise these bets regardless of my cards. Hopefully he takes the minbet to be bluffy also.
It works. He "shoves" his last 5 blinds in. I call. He has king-seven (top pair).
Not much money, but an unorthodox play gets the job done.
a $5 swing (25 blinds) in an orbit is no big deal, under any circumstances. But last night, as I was completing my last orbit of the night, I lost a few pots to a fishy player and went from a +3 on the evening to a -2.
Again, this should be no big deal, but it caused a minor irritation to know my little database tracker would show red for the day instead of green.
I'll get over it.
Played a nice session where everything worked out and people folded to my cbets and steals and my hands were all better at showdown. No giant pots won - the biggest was 21BB when I called two shorty shoves with TT. They had 99 and KJs. The flop came 977 (ouch) and then a ten came on the turn. The guy with the nine bitched and moaned about it for an orbit before signing off. Hey buddy - the best hand won!
No big pots lost, either - I lost a 7 BB pot, but felt good about folding to a value bet, even having made a pair of aces on the river. This player had better than top pair.
Should have probably kept playing, but of course the one cooler comes and it all topples over and you go to bed aggravated, even though you played 100% perfectly. I like this feeling better.
I've been working on bet sizing in the past few weeks. Last night bet sizing adjustments helped me climb from the red to the black in short order.
I was down about 25 big blinds when I picked up pocket tens under the gun. I had three bad players at my table - a 55/14, a 35/3, and the fantastic 77/0 - the latter being shielded from ruin by the poker gods, as is often the case. You get frustrated watching the guy call bets with bottom pair and trip up on the turn or hit an improbable straight, but you have to stay the course.
I raised up my tens to $1 - 4 big blinds instead of three, something I usually do in the first two positions at a 6 handed table. Make 'em pay to have position on me and all that. The 35/3 called me from the button, as did the 77/0 from a blind. Delightful times.
In a small stroke of luck, my tens stayed an overpair on a 357 rainbow board. Now I had already seen one of these yahoos call a raise with precisely 46o today and stack aces, and of course this was the first thing that went through my mind. But the math says I have the best hand the overwhelming majority of the time here, and I need to bet. I also need to be to protect against the 16 overcards that can come on the turn.
In the past, I would bet an enticing $1.80-$2 into the 3.25 pot, keeping them in. But the bad player who calls too much will call $2.50 just as easily, right? I make it $2.50 and sure enough, they both come along.
The turn brings a 5, which pairs the board. Of course, my heart sinks a little - a 77/0 can have any card in his range - certainly a 5. And he can call any bet with middle pair hoping for trips. But the math says I'm still ahead. In truth, just about every card in the deck is a "scare card" for my tens on this board:
J,Q,K,A: overcards
8,9: not so scary
7,5,3,: pairs the board
4,6,: puts 4 card straight out there
2: not too scary.
So am I going to be scared of every card that comes? Doesn't sound right. When 77/0 checks, I'm pretty sure he's missed - his prior play tells me he comes out firing pot after he makes his hand. Time to bet again, and no half potter - I bet $7 into %10.75, and figure I may be in for a tough river shove if one or both of them call. Fortunately for me, they both fold.
A bit later in the same session, the 77/0 limps, and I raise to $1 with AQ. We're heads up to the flop, which comes QJ2 rainbow. Top/Top equals nuts against this guy. This time, when he checks, I take my bet sizing to an extreme and overbet $3 into a $2.35 pot. I haven't seen him fold many flops, let's see if he folds this one. He does NOT, and the pot is $8.35.
The turn bricks a six, he checks. I make it $7. Too rich for his blood this time - he folds.
(there was another play I could have employed on the turn to earn even more money against this player - a check. This guy liked to make big river bets on every board like he was sandbagging a big hand. I had caught him once doing it for a small pot, but he kept it up over and over. I briefly considered this, but slowplaying top pair to induce a bluff seemed a bit too tricky for this player. Plus, had I checked and let a gutshot or a stray king catch me, I would have been sick to my stomach for three days. Against the truly awful players, putting your money in with the best hand is usually the correct strategy).
These two hands turned my little "$ won" graphic from red to green on the table, where it stayed until I logged off.
Up $22 in my Thursday cash game. My big had was an ace-king on a dangerous AQT board. I bet and my opponent called. I was worried about a slowplayed two pair or set...
Until the turn, the jack of hearts. I now had the nut straight on a three flush board. I also had the king of hearts in my hand for the nut flush redraw. A sticky spot out of position- a strong hand that still might be in a world of hurt. I decided I needed to bet for value on all the two pairs and sets.
I took a moment and decided I could go broke here, as long as the board didn't pair on the river. I chopped my current $50 stack in half and bet $25 - knowing that the river $25 would be a relatively small bet, more likely to be called. I was called again.
Best possible river card- a nine of hearts gave me the nut flush. I feigned deep though for a long time, counted my chips out (I already knew how many there were), and put them in. Villain gave it a few second's thought and then called, with AK, but no flush.
Tough call to make on a 4-flush board, but I can see where he couldn't put me on a hand. I bet every round, and all three rounds my hand improved from top/top, to nut straight, to nut flush.
I lost some of that back later on a failed bluff attempt - a new player at our game is an overbetter - and it seems to me that his bigger bets are weaker hands. He raised up 2 limpers to $7 - I decided to reraise him to $20 from the blind without looking at my cards. It didn't work, he called the bet and we saw a flop.
I took the chance to take "another" (first) look at my cards - ten-six offsuit. Bleah. I hit the ten, but a king and a jack made the board too nasty to continue with my bluff. I check/folded.
I will get the overbetter - I just might have to have a hand to do it.
after the tilty tourney, fired up the cash game - much the same as last night. This night we varied from 1 to 3 50+% VPIPs at the table, all with different tendencies. One was a wet noodle calling station that you couldn't bluff. One was a 57/45 and open raised from all positions. The third was a 53/6 and then bet pot/pot/pot postflop like he flopped a monster every time. All you need is a hand, one friggin hand, to take any of these meatheads out.
I took my share of small pots from them, but no cards to take the big one. Lost $4 on the night. Couldn't have asked for a better table, just couldn't get the job done.
Now I remember why I hate tournaments. The finality of a misstep.
Got to the final table in a 36 man. Tough sledding - the player to my right had a big stack. He kept minraising, minraising, minraising. Couldn't fight him. He minraised and then had odds to call a shortstack shove - QTs. Confirmed what I already knew.
For the 185th time, he minraised my blind. I had A4 and enough chips to force a fold. I shoved.
Installcall with pocket eights. Buh-bye to me in 9th place. Two hours of work in the shitter.
The tilt is strong with this one.
I have been approached by an agency that is interested in paying for advertising space on this blog. If I limited the advertising space to a single banner ad or perhaps a link in the occasional post, would this irritate you as a reader?
I would make every effort not to inundate you with links/ads.
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thank you.
Found myself a doozy of a table last night. 3 players playing over 50% of the hands, with the king of bad players to my immediate right. His stats were 82/10 after 150 hands. He called raises after limping 87% of the time. No regard to position. This guy was going to see a flop, come hell or high water.
And his postflop play wasn't much to write home about either. He was drawing to his two pairs, his gutshots, and sometimes less than that. He made a call with AT on some 22K type board that I simply could not explain.
The poker gods were very kind to this player on this night. He would play K3 and never once be up against AK or KQ. He would bet the absolute minimum - 0.25, into a raised, $2.00, and have everyone fold.
Had my wife or kids walked into the room during this session, they would have seen the green cartoon dollar signs in my eyes. I waited around for the opportunity to make this guy pay, but it didn't come. And then I stupidly paid him off - not a ton, but enough.
I limped behind him with K9. Weak-ass hand, but against someone playing 82%? Just fine. Flop was 779. He fired out his little min-bet, which usually meant he had nothing and was just praying I would fold. I called. Raising entered my mind, but if he has nothing, why raise? He's got 6 or less outs. Turn was a king. I've got two pair now. This time, he checked and I put out my value bet, which he immediately min-raised. My mind knew exactly what that meant - it meant he had a 7. I was like 80-90% sure - this player never raised unless he had a strong hand.
The fold was the correct play, but I didn't make it. I called. There were two different thoughts in my head at the same time - one the thought of a good poker player, the other the thoughts of a tilty one:
1) if a king or nine comes on the river, I will be boat over boat and will stack this guy easily. (he was playing with a full stack by the way, not one of these $5 shortstacker scaredy-cats).
2) I can't believe this donkey is playing 80% of flops and has once again hit a hand as strong as trips. No way. Not possible. Well I've got two pair, dammit, and I'm not folding!
My two thoughts were split down the middle, but I still had enough foresight to think about the river. If a king or nine came, then yay me, I would get it in the middle. If it did not, then I wasn't going to pay off a giant bet.
No luck for me on the river this time. I was ready to fold, but then Mr. 80% made the perfect bet - $1.25 into like a $3 pot. Less than half. I had seen him make these smaller river bets a couple times - too often to always be made hands.
I made the call. Q7 for trips. He made the perfect bet size against me to get a tiny bit of value.
I kept at it, even a full hour past my bedtime, but I never got the hand to crack him. He sat out for 2 orbits at one point - of course I was dealt big slick twice in this time and hit top pair each time. His avatar glanced over and mocked me as I scooped tiny pots from tight opponents who wouldn't pay me off with second pair or weak draws.
Also during his sit out, I won two pots from another decent player who was two to my right. As soon as Mr. 80% sat out, this guy noticed and went back to his TAGGY ways. He tried to steal my blind, which he had stopped doing somewhat, since the bad player was defending just about every blind. I had some type of weak ace and decided this was a great 3 betting opportunity - chances are this guy is just raising with anything now that he won't be called by the donkey, and I've got an ace so card removal says chances are lower that he doesn't have one. I made it 3.25 and stole his .75 raise.
A couple hands later, I defended my blind with KQ from the same raiser, then checkraised on a K35 rainbow board. He thought a LONNNG time before folding, leading me to believe he had a medium pocket pair and was trying to figure out if I had a king or not. I took that same pause to decide if I would play my KQ for all my chips. Do you take a chance against a regular player when there's such a donkey at the table, just waiting to give someone his chips? Then again, the donkey was sitting out - no guarantee that he comes back.
It was a coinflip decision, and I wasn't quite done processing it all when the raiser folded and I won the pot without having to make a decision. Whew.
It took great will power to get up from that table (Mr. 80% came back), but I had already lost and hour of sleep. I was down $3 on the session - near the exact amount I had paid off to the trip sevens. I will make sure to go back and add this guy to my buddy list - but my instincts tell me that poker might not be a permanent hobby for this play for very long.
And hooray! I was on the correct side of it.
Converting hands till the cows come home
Cereus No Limit Hold'em $0.10/$0.25 - 5 players
Button: $25.25 (Hero)
SB: $44.21
BB: $31.12
UTG: $43.91
CO: $19.91
Preflop: ($0.35) Hero is Button with 
(5 players)
UTG calls $0.25, CO folds, Hero calls $0.25, SB calls $0.15, BB checks
UTG is a 45/11 limper, I have punished him several times to this point. His stats suggest he will fold to reraises, but he keeps calling me. I decide to change it up on the button and just call with my suited ace.
Flop: ($1.00) 
(4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets $0.50, 2 folds, UTG calls $0.50
Hey, nice flop! Top pair, nut flush draw. And a gutshot to go with it. Let's start betting and pot-building.
Turn: ($2.00) 
(2 players)
Weee! I hit my flush. Hey look, it happens to be my gutshot card also. That's pretty cool, I hit a straight and a flush at the same time....
(wait for it) ...
HOLY SHIT BATMAN, THAT'S A STRAIGHT FLUSH!
(sorry, it takes me awhile).
What to bet, what to bet? Let's bet small, like we're scared of the flush card...
UTG checks, Hero bets $0.70, UTG raises to $2.40,
thank the Lord, villain's got something. Maybe a smaller flush? 67? set? Not sure, but I'm going to reraise him again. The old minraise - let's hope I don't snap the line...
Hero raises to $4.10, UTG calls $1.70
He calls. Good news.
River: ($10.20) 
(2 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $6,
That ace is a good card (especially if he has pocket aces). Otherwise, all the sets and ace-rag two pairs just boated up. Ok, I bet enough to make sure I get some value in case he just calls.
UTG raises to $28.25,
Well, he's got the boat, or 6d7d, which would make this the worst cooler I've ever suffered.
Hero calls $14.40 and is all-in
UTG showed 
, Full house, aces full of fives
Hero showed , Straight flush, ace to five
Hero won $48.45
(Rake: $2.55)
How long before you start definitively believing your reads?
Got to play in a nice little Sunday live tourney this afternoon. Lots of bad luck early - I tried being aggressive with A7 and 44, and got reraised both times! This isn't a heavy action 3betting table, so I didn't put anyone on a move, and folded both times.
Later on, the player on the button raised up 2 limpers to 1000 chips. I had jacks in the big blind. This guy wasn't ultra-aggressive, and he wasn't playing every one of his buttons- he seemed solid, tight, straightforward. I didn't want to play jacks to the wall, and folding is too weak. I called.
The flop came with an ace and I checked. He bet out, but small - 1200. Why so small? "He didn't hit that ace" was my first thought. "Or.... ", I continued, he now has three aces and is trying to lure someone in". "Or, he doesn't love his kicker".
If he doesn't love his kicker, why would he have raised up limpers? This is a tourney, that's more of a cash game play. The small bet bothers me, but this player hasn't been messing around - I have to give him credit for a hand. I fold. He decides to show - king-queen - he had missed everything. My read was right, and I had folded the best hand. Crap. I shove there and he can't call, obviously, and I win a few orbits worth of time.
Late in the tourney, I raise up king-jack. The small blind defends - he's got a huge stack and is playing very loose. He has knocked people out with 45 and 9To. I decide before seeing the flop that top pair is good enough to go against this guy's range.
Then of course I chicken out. I hit my jack, but that card and the other two are all clubs. I have no club. We both check. The turn is a brick, and no club. He checks and I bet out my top pair. He puts me all in.
Great decision. Did he have the flush the whole time. My read is no - he checked quickly and my read was that he didn't stop and consider for a second what to do. He could have two pair here, I guess (I think 78 is out there), or a pair with a club. I'm not sure, not sure.... so I fold.
He flashes a jack of spades. I ask if he had a club to go with that, he says "yes, a pretty big one". king/jack, queen/jack, or jack ten I guess. I was probably ahead again. He said "I figured you just didn't have anything and were betting because I checked twice".
A good read, but not quite right. I had top pair and played it weakly. I probably should have accounted for that in my analysis. It was late in the tourney and I could have used those chips. But calling all-in? Bleah.
Still, it was the right read. Should have went with it. He might have hit the flush on the river, but my money would have gone in while ahead.
---
Sidebar - another fun (not) hand from the tourney - the dealer accidentally flipped over a card while dealing. No biggie, happens all the time. That player gets the burn card, and then there's no burn for the flop. But this time, she also flipped over the extra card while passing it to him. That's a misdeal - we pass in our cards and deal again.
Should have never done it, but I flipped over my hand to see what I didn't get to play. Pocket aces. Obviously.
My friend says that - jokingly of course. Tonight I played against 76/1 - he was almost doing it. Sitting right to my right, too - the equivalent to having a busted ATM outside your door. At least in theory. He hit two baby straights on me with garbage "connectors" (53 and 46) vs. my overpair and top pair. You gotta bet against the idjit - he's calling with so much less - you gotta got into pots with him and bet for value.
When he catches, you just bite your lip and keep playing, hoping your shot comes soon.
It almost came soon after - pocket aces. I raised his (everpresent) limp and he folded. Damn!
Never won a big pot off him, but I got a few more from another noodnik for a profit on the night.
Was reading a micro stakes self-diagnostic today that summarized some "todos" and "todon'ts" for our standard ABC game. Good stuff.
One interesting note was talking about "implied odds" hands like connectors. The article suggested that people don't win money with these hands out of position. It just doesn't happen.
Of course, that was a challenge to check my PokerTracker database. I set a filter for out of position on the flop, then sorted my hands by win rate.
The bottom 3 hands: 98s, 87s, 97s. Wow.
My HUD is temporarily broken on my primary site right now (where I get rakeback), so I went back to Full Tilt for some Rush Poker. Great early session = 140BB won.
Then I took a phone call and stopped for a half hour or so. When I got off the phone, I debated between leaving things with a healthy win and doing something else for the night, or hopping back in. Some say that when you're playing well and "feeling it", shutting down an early win might be limiting your win rate.
I say that's hooey. Past performance doesn't predict the future, right? My second session might go as well as the first, or horribly, or somewhere in between.
This night was a poor second session. Nothing crazy, just guys hitting two pair on me, or taking a guess on a guy not having an ace, but having one. I bailed before it got too out of hand, and still booked an 80 BB win for the day.
Here was a hand I might have made a mistake on - it just depends on what level you think the villain is thinking at.
Dont have a cow, heres your converted hand
Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em $0.10/$0.25 - 9 players
CO: $19.76
Button: $131.11
SB: $25.00 (Hero)
BB: $47.66
UTG: $29.16
UTG+1: $21.68
MP: $27.81
MP2: $39.53
HJ: $32.57
Preflop: ($0.35) Hero is SB with 
(9 players)
6 folds, Button raises to $0.75,
Button has a big stack. I only have 29 hands on him, his stats are 10/10. Attempt to steal 1 out of 2. Not enough hands to really decide anything. But if he's decent, then he's stealing light, and I'm going to reraise AK, for value:
Hero raises to $3, BB folds, Button raises to $9.25,
Ok, he's ready to play for stacks now, or he's bluffing. In Rush Poker, stealing blinds is everything, and I have noticed that defending light is common. I folded to 5 or 6 3bets from the blinds in 300 hands - I might do that only once or twice at a normal table in the same amount of time. The counter to the light 3 bet is the light 4-bet of course. So I have to decide if he thinks I'm 3 betting light, in which case he's 4-betting light (including AQ/AJ/AT in his range, say), or 4-betting for value with a big hand.
I'm not in horrible shape either way, of course, even against kings I've got a bit of equity (30%). I'm dead to aces, but racing everything else. If he's 4-betting light, including all pairs 77 and higher, along with AK, AQ, AJ, and KQ, then I have 55% equity and a decent favorite. If he's only making this raise with JJ+ and AK, then I'm in more trouble, about a 60-40 dog.
What to do, what to do? Finally, I take a look at his raise size - three times my bet. From my (limited) study, I have learned that light 4-betting is usually best done as either a minraise, or a shove. Both are effective for different reasons - the shove has maximum fold equity of course, and the minraise usually gives you room to fold to a 5-bet shove. This raise was neither - I may have taken a shove or a minraise to be more bluffy in nature, but this medium size 4bet commits us to the pot if I call.
That was my final tipping point to think he's more likely to be raising with a big hand. Even if I was racing QQ 57-43%, why race for a buy-in?
Hero folds
Button won $6.25
Will never know if it was the right decision, but I felt like I took all the best information I had at the time, processed it quickly, and came to a reasonable conclusion.
I attended my daughter's middle school honors program last night - it's great to see all the kids receive their academic awards - many of the kids belong to families that we have met due to soccer, school events, or as my daughters' friends. It is a community event that allows us to collectively show pride.
Towards the end of the ceremony, it came time to award the Archie Griffin Sportsmanship award to one young man and woman. The coach presenting the award to the young man referred to the award he was bestowing as the Archie Griffiths award - not one, but three different times. He talked about what an honor it was to bestow this award to such a deserving young man and all that hoo-hah.
If it was such an honor for you - you think you might want to get the name of the award right next year buddy? I mean, Archie Griffin is only one of the most celebrated athletes in our State's history.
Egads.
I was playing 2 tables tonight - one was the 72 prop bet table, where everyone puts up an extra big blind up into a side pot for a prop, and if a player wins with seven-deuce, he wins the side pot.
It took awhile before I got the 7-2 - I raised it up from under the gun, and a fishy 55/0 player called me from the blind. I hit my deuce and c-bet he called. Checked the turn behind, and then checked the river as an ace hit - he won the pot by hitting this ace. He had called the turn with a gutshot and nothing more. Gaaa!
2 hands later, this same player limped, called a raise, then raise/shoved on an AKx board with JQ. His opponent had AK and wasn't folding. He left the table after failing to hit his four outer and getting stacked.
I was a bit irritated still at the bad player when I got 72 again, and again under the gun. I raised it up 4x, and again a blind called. This guy had a 100% cbet percentage - and I also noticed he lead every flop no matter what came (a c-bet is defined in my HUD as betting the flop when you're the preflop raiser - this guy would bet the flop on a limp, or when he called a raise, too). This time he lead out on a 789-type board. I was tired of his donkbets into me, and dammit, I was an under the gun raiser - so I raised up his bet on pure principal. He folded, and I was ready to see the little 7-2 side pot graphic come up and notify everyone how I had just won the pot with the worst hand in poker. Strangely, the graphic didn't come up. Took me a second to register why it didn't come up.
This wasn't the seven-deuce table. That was the other table I was playing.
Whoopsie.
Feral Cow Poker Hand Converter
Cereus No Limit Hold'em $0.10/$0.25 - 6 players
Button: $4.25
SB: $5.41
BB: $25.00
UTG: $28.70
UTG+1: $35.22 (Hero)
CO: $26.00
Preflop: ($0.35) Hero is UTG+1 with 
(6 players)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $0.75, 3 folds, BB calls $0.50
Flop: ($1.60) 
(2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1, BB calls $1
Turn: ($3.60) 
(2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks.
Sometimes I check the turn in this situations instead of double-barrelling. I have one pair with a mediocre kicker and I'm not willing to play for stacks with this hand. Checking the turn gives me pot control, and gives the villain the ability to bluff. Usually, as I check the turn, I'm thinking "I will call the river bet"...
River: ($3.60) 
(2 players)
BB bets $3.60, Hero calls $3.60
BB showed 
, One pair, tens
BB won $10.26
(Rake: $0.54)
The plan backfired this time. I let his 6 outer get there for free (not to mention the flush draw), and I lost a pretty big pot anyway because he made a full size pot bet. Of course, with this hand villain probably folds the turn, but my line works well most of the time that he has unpaired overcards. (he'll only hit a pair 12% of the time, and might bluff another 25-50%).
So am I making a mistake with this line, or is this is a good play that I got unlucky with?
I was invited to a different game last night, hosted by "The Aussie" - an Australian guy who has played 2 or 3 times in my own home game as a guest. I knew about half the players, some from my home game, some from the Monthly tourney. Friendly bunch.
Fun game. The Aussie calls it his "2-3-4" game - where he changes up what we're playing when the orbit reaches his deal. "2" stands for Texas Hold-em ("2" because players are dealt two cards, not brain surgery), "4" stands for Omaha, and "3" stands for "Aussie Holdem-em" - his own variant where you get 3 cards and all three can be used on a standard flop/turn/river to make your 5 card hand.
The last game is rather silly and I didn't care for it too much. All the standard rules of board reading no longer apply. One could be holding a full house without a pair on the board, or a flush with only 2 of a suit on a board. I actually almost-should have- got stacked in this game holding 7-T-J and hitting an 8-9-4 rainbow board. There was a bet and two calls, and I raised BIG with my straight to chase people away. I had one caller. When the turn came and made a true rainbow board - all four suits displayed, I just decided to shove. No flush was currently possible, yet all four flushes were in play if my opponent held three suited cards! (like I said, rather silly). My action was so stunning and a bit out of character for this "call, call, call" game that my opponent - a very solid player by my reckoning - folded his hand face up - T-J-Q for the nut straight! His reasoning was that my play was so fast and "sure" that he put my on at least full house (again, with no pair on the board, this is still possible). So I got lucky on that hand.
Another thing I liked about this game were the stakes - .25/.25 blinds, small by my cash game standards (we play .50/$1 on Thursdays), but players are allowed to buy-in deep - $60 to start (240 blinds!), and they can top up an additional $20 each hour starting 2 hours into the game. So the game basically plays as a "small pot game" (in absolute $ terms), but the big stacks allow for "big pots" when the monster-vs-monster hands come up. This favors the more experienced players, of course - who can win 200+ blinds off someone making a big mistake.
The small stakes were good for me - a solid Hold'em player who needs more Omaha experience (players transitioning usually make big mistakes overplaying solid Hold'em hands like 2-pair or trips that are only ok hands in Omaha).
As for players making big mistakes - they were plentiful. For myself, I played solid Hold'em, pretty good Omaha (a few mistakes, but also a few big pots), and avoided the 3 card game by playing very tight and sticking rigidly to late position.
My favorite Omaha hand was a 3467 that I got to play in a limped pot. A monster board for me - 3-4-5 gave me the nut straight and a full house redraw. Bet, call, call, then raise by me. Two customers.
The turn brought a second flush draw. I bet out and got checkraised by the blind. Checkraised pretty big. I probably could have shoved with the current nuts and boat redraw (might have been the correct play, not sure), but instead I called the raise and decided to bomb it only if the flushes didn't come in.
Bad news/Great news - the spade flush did come in, but as a 4 and I had a full house. I bombed the pot hoping to look like a desperation play. My solid opponent folded - again face up (lots of show-n-tell at this game) - same 67 nut straight and the other flush draw, actually a - straight-flush-draw. So my redraw came in and his didn't. Too bad. Many of the other players at this table would have called my bet with the nut straight on a paired, 3-spade board. (an awful mistake in Omaha, by the way).
My pull on the night - $170. As in nearly 700 blinds. Not a bad night's fun.
Last hand of the night. I'm the big blind. I've booked a $40 win so I won't be going too crazy.
Button limps. Small blind completes. I've got jack-queen-off. Worth popping up, perhaps, but nah. Let's see the flop and go to bed.
King-King-Ten, all different suits. Hmmm, possibilities. Straight with an ace or nine. The small blind checks, and I minbet $1 into a $3 pot. Try to pump it up a bit to make it worth winning. Both players call.
Turn is the seven of hearts, putting two hearts out there. Same bet, $1 into $6. Not my usual style, but these guys aren't tricky. They're not going to read me weak-ass bet and come steal the pot. Now let's hit that river card....
Foiled. A brick. Three of clubs. Junk-ola. The small blind checks to me. I have brief visions of hammering down a $12 bet, but the button with call with anything - literally ANYTHING - so no use in doing that. I check. Button checks, and we see a showdown.
Both guys show pocket hearts - they picked up the heart draw on the turn. Jack-Eight for one, Three-Five for the other. Jack-Eight also had a gutshot by the turn. My queen high actually wins the hand - hurray for me.
But wait - how did we get to showdown with those crappy cards, and me betting the first two streets? What did these two guys have on the flop? Five-Three sooooted is looking at a K-K-T board with only one of his suit, and he calls a bet. What's he hoping to hit? What's he thinking he's up against? Same with Jack-Eight - what's he gonna hit on a K-K-T board? He needs runner-runner for anything.
I should keep the mouth shut of course, but I fail to do so. I just gotta know. I point over at the five-three on the table as I stack the last chips of the night. "What are you calling a bet on the flop with 5-3 for on that board?" I say it friendly-like, in the spirit of the game. Not insulting.
He laughs. "It was a friendly bet. One dollar. Not scary. So I called it".
So there you have it. He wasn't thinking about what he could be up against, he wasn't even thinking about what type of hand he was hoping to make. He saw a small, affordable bet, so he called it.
Absolute, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 6 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
CO: $29.65
BTN: $24.58
Hero (SB): $41.03
BB: $12.73
UTG: $3.40
MP: $17.94
Pre-Flop: Q
Q
dealt to Hero (SB) oooo, queens.
UTG raises to $0.85, UTG is a shortstacking 59/12. I might be behind his raising range, for $3.40, I don't care
MP raises to $2, a 74/21 nutty, halfstacker. already 3 bet once in first 20 hands.
CO folds,
BTN calls $2, 55/9. Full stack, passive. Dead money personified.
Tough one? Nah. All three of these guys play over half their hands. My queens are like trip aces at this point. Squeeze-a-reno.
Hero raises to $8,
BB folds, UTG calls $2.55 and is All-In, 2 folds
One customer, the shortstacker, and all that lovely dead money.
Hero shows Q Q
UTG shows J
T Well, I'm a big favorite...
Flop: ($11.05) 5
K Q (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
The good news, I flop a set. The bad news, it helps the villain hit an open ended straight draw. Of course if does...
Turn: ($11.05) J (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
I flinch at the jack, but it only gives him a pair.
River: ($11.05) 4 (2 Players - 1 is All-In)
I win a big pot!
Results: $11.05 Pot ($0.54 Rake)
Hero showed Q Q and WON $10.51 (+$7.21 NET)
UTG showed J T and LOST (-$3.40 NET)
Just a ridiculous hand. Put it in the annal-book of sick hands.
Absolute, $0.10/$0.25 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 5 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter
UTG: $27.95
Hero (CO): $32.07
BTN: $46.21
SB: $43.84
BB: $35.65
Pre-Flop: 8
9 dealt to Hero (CO)
UTG folds, Hero raises to $0.75, BTN calls $0.75, SB folds, BB calls $0.50
Flop: ($2.35) 2 9
8 (3 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $1.70, BTN calls $1.70, BB raises to $9.15,
lots of semibluff draws for him to get frisky with, plus dead money, plus I've just cracked slowplayed aces/kings. I'm ahead of everything except the three sets. Good enough to die on the hill...
Hero raises to $31.32 and is All-In, BTN folds, BB calls $22.17
Hero shows 8 9 BB shows 7 T
7 T? so that means he has an open ended straight flush draw. Oooo-fa.
Turn: ($66.69) K (2 Players - 1 is All-In) -suspense over, he caught me. 4 outs to a winner.
River: ($66.69) J (2 Players - 1 is All-In) -nope. stacked.
Results: $66.69 Pot ($3 Rake)
Hero showed 8 9 and LOST (-$32.07 NET)
BB showed 7 T and WON $63.69 (+$31.87 NET)
I pokerstoved the hand afterward - villain was a 50.909% to 49.091% favorite. As close to a coinflip as you can get, and I flopped top two pair!
As I "instant messaged" to my friend after the hand - you study, you work on your game, you practice, you review hands, you read, you get tutoring, you discuss hands with your friends, you do everything you can to be a good player. Then you flop a big hand that's ahead of nearly everything, against a loose meathead with a wide range, and you still end up flipping a friggin coin for $32.
Edit: By the way, say you call a raise with a suited 2 gapper like 7 T, hoping to hit the open-ended-straight-flush draw like my fine opponent did here. Do you know how often you will see this? Trying to work out the math....
